NorCal Kayak Anglers
Kayak Fishing Zone => Hookups and Fishing Reports (Viewable by Public) => Topic started by: Bill on December 07, 2004, 05:08:31 PM
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The wife is at Laguna Seca taking racing lessons Friday so I will have a few hours to fish. Since everything in the ocean is closed I was going to head to Oneil. I will be there between 9ish and 3ish if anyone wants to join me. I will be testing my new dragonfly topwater plastic!
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Would love to join you but I gotta work :smt013
Good luck and take photos! :smt023
Did you get the dragonfly in basspro shops or cabelas?
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I made the dragon flys myself. chopped up a bunch of plastic bug parts, add a little clay, then made a mold with Durham's water putty. Bingo Dragon Fly mold. I will try to post a picture later tonight.
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Here it is, this is a first pass so it needs a little more work.
(http://www.boarder.org/fishpics/albums/userpics/10001/normal_dragonfly.jpg)
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Hey Bill, it looks good. Keep us posted on the progress. One question, does it float? I mentioned to you that I've desighed a damsel gurgler fly. Because of its desigh its floats just above the surface,which is what fish expect a real damsel fly to do. It's caught me a lot of bass. As long as they
grab it on the first presentation.( the first time it hits the water) I'm talking about big bass, 4lb's and up If there's a damsel hatch happening I can catch them all day they may not always be big but their fun.
I'm still of the opinion the perfect damsel fly lure will be one that can hover above the water like a helicopter.( I don't care if I spelled that wrong) Why? On the private waters that I've the privilege to fish I've seen big bass come out of the water over three feet to grab a damsel or a dragonfly.Rickey's believe or not
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Yeah it floats great. I am going to rig it up weedless worm style and see how it goes.
Since it does not look like I will have any company and my time will be tight Friday I think I am just going to fish from the shore around the maderas launch.
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Damned! that was a quick reply
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How do you melt the plastic? I've read where other guys melt it in the microwave. Methinx my wife might object to that though. The best solution I've seen was a lead melting pot that had been modified to run at 200 something instead of 600 something.
My first bait would be a swimbait with scampi tails justting out a bit before the scampi tail. Might be able to make a very lifelike octopus lure that opens and closes too. Wicked...
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Check out Jann's Netcraft online. They have supplies for making soft plastic lures... says their soft plastic melts at 325 F.
http://www.jannsnetcraft.com/Items.aspx?disp=gallery&hierId=spmolds
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I use the microwave with Calhouns Plastic. Calhouns does not smoke as much as other plastics. I use a 1 cup pyrex measuring cup and way I go.
I get my plastic from Del's http://del-mart.com/store/index.php
The site I learn all my info is Tackle Underground - http://www.tackleunderground.com/index.php
They make Lee production pots for pouring plastic, depending on how productive I get I might get one.
I have a few swimbait prototypes setup like up mentioned, I have one that is done but it only has one curly tail instead of 2. My 2 tail prototype still needs some work.
If any of you guys are interested in learning how I would be happy to help you out, it is really pretty easy.
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On my to do list this spring is to make some Diamond Jigs. I have a 6oz mold and will likely powder coat them white and another color. Chrome seems to be too messy to do from home.
I'll post when I get closer to doing something. Maybe we can have a casting party...
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I use aluminum tape on my rattle traps then cover it with epoxy. That might be a cheap way to get around the chrome issue.
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Bill - how about building a better fishing kayak instead? I mean...I like my prowler but it can still use a face lift.
THINK BIG BABY! :smt098
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I have been thinking about that but I can't find any good resources on what the process is. Everything I can find relates to building wooden kayaks. From the little I have been able to find it is a lot like pouring lures only on a much bigger scale. You build a mold and pour the plastic in. If anyone has pointers on how to build a plastic kayak I would be game to give it a go.
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maybe Scwafish of Malibu kayaks can help?
Sean? Any advise on this matter? :smt064
I already have the PERFECT KAYAK DESIGN on my head :smt021
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A kayak mold is around $25000 at least that's what I've been told.
My ideal of a face lift was a different kayak.
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$25000........that's loose change to Uncle Bill :smt066
Bill, go ahead and sign the check....my kayak design is ready and waiting to be molded :smt025
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I figured they're expensive, kayak molds might also require a high pressure injection system too.
There are some things you could play with though, styrofoam is very easy to make - just throw the pellets into a mold and heat it. They puff up and fill the mold while adhering to eachother. So it'd be relatively easy to make a solid kayak of styrofoam, perhaps in sections. Just give it a couple coats of epoxy/fiberglass and it'd be bombproof. Some epoxies melt styrofoam so it might need a primer...
My dad and a friend of his build woodstrip canoes with redwood and epoxy. They take about 40-80 hours of work and $400 in materials, but when they're done they can be sold for $2500. That's in minnesota, a nice redwood strip sea kayak might fetch twice that here. You can add some pine strips and even splice strips together to make cool patterns on them, ect. Once I have a yard I may give that a go myself. I'd have to build some prototypes out of cheaper materials until I had a good design though, I doubt I'd hit it on the first try. The most tooling intensive part of building these is a tablesaw to cut 16' #1 redwood boards ($40 a pop in CA, $80 in MN) into 1/8" strips. Ideally you want a saw with the tinyest curf possible or your board ends up half sawdust. Maybe you could build one with styrofoam strips... 99% of the strength is in the fiberglass anyway.
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Oh yeah no problem. I am writing the check now.
Sounds like it might be easier to work with the current makers of kayaks on your design Joel. If the mold is 25k the production of one is probably around 2k after all is said and done. So that is 27k for 1 kayak, that is one expensive yak!
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....the voices in my head say...."if you build it....they will come (and buy it)"
:smt109